I should post more often!!!

So much has happened over the past month since I last posted.  I should post more often!!! 

 My grandfather died on February 13th.  I flew home to Massachusetts with Jimmy to attend the funeral.  It was great to see everyone, but it was a tiring 5 days.  I ate like a pig, but enjoyed every minute of it!!!!  I miss Bumpa, but he hasn’t been himself for so many years, and he had been in a lot of pain.  I know I’ll see him again, and that makes it so much easier.

Anna is signed up for T-ball this spring/summer season.  Practices start on April 1st.  We are so excited for her to learn a team sport, although, I think soccer is more team oriented.  Oh well.

 Billy is getting so big.  He is finally potty training.  It’s going slow, but he’s sitting on that potty.  He doesn’t have very many accidents, but honestly, he doesn’t pee a lot during the day.  He usually pees and poops while sleeping . . . I find that so odd.

Jimmy is getting so big!!!!!  He walks full time now and he’s into everything!  He is now tall enough to reach the buttons on the tv, so we are constantly having to tell him to not push the buttons and get him away.

My brother, Ed, and his wife, Aimee, had a baby girl on March 11th.  Her name is Grace Campbell and she was 7 lbs 0.7 oz and was 21.5 inches long.  She has a big head like my boys, of 14 inches!!!  The whole family is doing well.  I talked to Ed last night and Aimee and Gracie were napping and he was relaxing, watching the Karate Kid on On Demand. 

 Got to go help Anna finish a puzzle.  I promise to try and update more often!!!!

I made my WW goal!!!!

I finally did it!!!  49.6 lbs later and I’m at my goal weight!!!!  I don’t really know how I feel actually.  I’m very excited but scared at the same time.  I don’t want to gain it all back.  I started a Bible study with my mom (yeah, we can do a Bible study across the miles) , It’s called “A Woman of Moderation” by Dee Bresdin.  I heard about while listening to Midday Connection on Moody (www.middayconnection.org).  The broadcasters of the show along with many woman who listen to the show are doing the study together.  My mom and I started a bit late, so we’re a few weeks behind the show, but we can listen to the previous shows over the internet . . . which reminds me, I need to email my mom a link to the old broadcasts. LOL

Anyways, the Bible Study is to take the focus away from food and put it on God.  Food has become an idol to some of us.  We turn to it when we’re sad, happy, afraid, stressed, etc.  We turn to food because we think it’s comforting.  But in the end, it doesn’t comfort us at all.  The Bible Study helps you to learn to turn to God instead of food when we are sad, happy, afraid, stressed, etc.  He is the only one we can receive true comfort from.

His Word is what we need to feed upon.  Through reading His Word and being in constant prayer with Him, we find out comfort and have our fill of Him.

 John 6:35

Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.

So, my mom and I are on week one.  My goal is to maintain right now.  My problem is food.  Food, food, food.  I want it and I want a lot of it.  The Patriots lost, and I immediately turned to all sorts of food that I shouldn’t have.  I needed comfort.   Well, I didn’t get comfort, I got guilt from indulging in all that food.  Monday started a new day for me, and I’m feeling a lot better, and I’m turning to God instead of food for comfort.

Billy’s follow-up with the ENT

We went in for the 2 week follow-up appointment after Billy’s tubes were put in.  He is hearing so much better and already talking a great deal better.  It really is amazing what a change the tubes have made!!!  He sometimes even tells us that we’re too loud. LOL  That’s my boy!

We go back to the ENT in 6 month intervals now to make sure the tubes are still in place and he’s doing good.

Oh, now I feel bad . . . Happy 5th Birthday Anna

Okay, I never posted that my wonderful daughter turned 5 on December 27th.  She had a great birthday and is still celebrating!  She had a dress-up party with her friends at a place called Drama Queens.  I still have to print out pictures for her friends . . . I wanted to have that done today . . .

On the actual day of her birthday, we went to Chucky Cheese.  It was her choice.  We had so much fun there. 

And she will have one more party for family.  It’s going to be a joint party for all three kids (Billy’s birthday is in the middle of February), and will most likely be on the first Saturday in February . . . I better get going – eh?

Oh, for Anna’s birthday, she got a shopping spree on the day after Christmas, with all the big sales going on.  She picked out a lifesize barbie doll (Princess Aurora) from the Disney store.  She got it at less than half the original price!!!  She really did good.  And she got a remote controlled Cinderella’s Carriage at the Disney Store too.   Then she got a Build-A-Bear and a make over at Libby Lou’s.  It was a fun day!!!!  We literally shopped til we dropped!!!

Happy First Birthday Jimbo!!!

My baby is now one year old!  Wow, how time flies!!!  I can’t believe how fast the past year has gone!  What in the world happened to my baby boy?  He’s so independent now and climbing on everything.  I just want to hold and cuddle him, but he’s on the go all the time, and he’s ever so curious! 

It’s odd though, the difference between the first child and the third.  The first one played with baby toys from the time they were born until the second one came along and took over the baby toys (she was 2!!).   Now, Jimmy does play with some baby toys, but mostly, he plays with his big brother’s toys.  We have all these age-appropriate toys laying around for him, and he wants to play with the Imaginext Castle and Pirate Ship. LOL

He did get a cool present from his Auntie Michelle though.  He spent a long time playing with it yesterday.  She got him a CAT dump truck ride on.  The thing is so cool!!!  It came with some Mega Blocks too and he had so much fun putting them in, then taking them out, then putting them in, then taking them out . . . I had fun watching him, it was too cute!!

From his Meme and Papa and from us (a joint gift), we got him a new Step2 wagon.  Okay, it’s really for me, but hey, he’s one.  He won’t know the difference. LOL

Oh, and I’m such a bad mommy.  First of all, I didn’t bake him a cake.  Instead, we put a candle (yes dad, I did find a candle, so we didn’t have to use a Yankee candle. LOL) in a Twinkie and that was his cake.  He LOVED the Twinkie!!!  He devoured every last part of it!!!!

And secondly, I didn’t wrap his other gifts from Mom and Dad. I bought them so that he’d have something to open, and then, I never wrapped them. LOL  I’m horrible.  But he didn’t notice.   He just had fun with his CAT dump truck ride on from Auntie Michelle!!

All about Billy :)

It’s been a big month for Billy.  My sweet little man had tubes put in his ears on the 17th of January.  The doctor said that both his ears had been filled with real thick goopy mucous-like stuff.  Hopefully this will help his hearing!  He also had a speech evaluation done, and they said that he is a bit behind, but once the tubes were put in (had it done a couple days before he got the tubes put in), his speech should get better within 4 to 6 weeks.  So, we are really hoping that is the case!!!

Well, the day after he had his tubes put in, we decided it was time to get rid of the pacifyer.  He has been pacifyer free since the 18th!!!!  The first couple days were rough, but not horrible.  It’s really not bad at all.  He’s doing fine and he’s not trying to use Jimmy’s pacifyer, which I was worried about.  But he’s doing real good.

Now, if only we could get him to use the potty!!!! LOL

New Years resolutions

So, what are yours?  I have quite a few! LOL

1) Get closer to God (Which includes reading my Bible every day and praying constantly)

2) Make my Weight Watchers goal and maintain – continue to go to meeting even after I meet my goal.

3) Stop being so lazy.

4) Stop procrastinating (actually, I’m doing that now . . . should be working . . . )

So, with that, I’m taking off to get some work done. LOL

Happy New Year!!!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas!  I think I enjoyed it too much, eating everything I could get my hands on!!!  I still have a piece of French-Canadian Meat Pie in my fridge, and let me tell you, it is so tempting!!!!  But, I won’t do it.  I started back on Weight Watchers yesterday morning and am doing well again.  I gained 4 pounds over December!!!!  My “skinny” jeans were starting to get a bit tight!!!  So, now I am 7 pounds from my goal.  I was so close, only 3 pounds away . . . Oh well.  I’ll make my goal by my birthday.

News around here . . .

Jimmy got two more teeth on New Years Eve.  Poor kid.  He was so cranky and grumpy for a few days then we finally noticed why.  So, he now has 8 teeth.  Our friends said that he took a step all on his own on New Years Eve but I didn’t see it (I was there, but had my back turned).  He is very close, but not close to walking yet.  I think in a month or so, he’ll be walking.

Anna turned 5 on December 27th.  She’s such a big girl.  She has her birthday party this Saturday.  She’s having it at a place called Drama Queens.  Her and her friends will get to dress up in clothes and have a fashion show and get to play in the play rooms at the place.  Anna went to a party there last year and it was a lot of fun.  So far, most of the girls are coming.  We have a few that have not replied yet . . . I guess I’ll just expect to see them and if they don’t show, oh well.

Billy is scheduled to get tubes in his ears on January 17th.  We are hoping that they will clear up his ears and he will be able to hear a lot better afterwards.  He also is going to be evaluated for his speech, as we feel that his hearing issues has affected his speech.  Pray for him.  He is the sweetest boy and I feel so sad when I know that he can’t hear his friends at school so they all ignore him, as he ignores them when they talk to them, because he can’t hear them.  I was talking to his teacher the other day and she said that she is trying to put him with the more physical kids because he can better communicate with them right now.

 So, that is the story over here.  Oh, Bob and I are doing fine.  Same old – Same old around here.  It’s back to work after some time away and I’m so tired.  All I want to do is sleep. LOL  I’m so lazy too.  I don’t want to bring the kids to school today because it’s so cold outside . . .  

 I need to go wake Bob.  His alarm didn’t go off and he has to leave in 10 minutes.

I need to start getting on here more!

I just wanted to come on here and tell you all about the fun day I had on Black Friday.  Yes, I love to shop on Black Friday!!!

 I was going to camp out at Best Buy to get a new monitor for our new computer, but I didn’t want to spend all that time in the cold.  I was dreading the camping out in 32 degree weather.

So, I watched and watched and noticed that starting the Sunday before Black Friday that Best Buy had a decent sale.  I got a better monitor for 20 bucks more than what I would have paid for the monitor I planned on getting on Black Friday.  So a better monitor and not sleeping out in the cold Chicago air was definately worth 20 bucks.  But I must say that sometimes I get motion sickness while playing EQII with the new monitor. LOL

 So, that started out my journey and on Friday I hit up Khols first.  Oh, I love Khols.

 I got to Khols at 2:00 AM CST.  I was the second person in the back parking lot (the front was full).  After 3:00 AM is when everyone started showing up in groves.  My goodness it was funny.  We all got out of our cars and waited in line then.  I think they let us in before 4:00 AM because I was checking out at 4:03 AM! LOL

I got the kids each an iFlop for their mp3 players they are going to get (except for Jimmy) and I got them those cute animal earphones for when they’re in the car.  I also picked up a new winter coat for Anna.  That wasn’t planned.  A few minutes before they let us in, I was thumbing through the ad listings and saw a cute jacket.  My friend pointed out how it was just inside right in front of us.  It was only 28 bucks instead of 70, so I got it, as she does need one.  I also bought teacher gifts.  I got Christmas ornaments.  I normally don’t give ornaments for teacher gifts, but Anna and Billy’s teachers told me that they like to receive them (I’m friends with their teachers so they were very candid.  One was upset that she didn’t get an ornament from Anna last year).  The ornaments came out to less than 3 bucks each and they are very nice.  I got some for me too.

So, after I ran out of Khols (no line – well not for me.   My friend ended up waiting for an hour in line), I went to Toys-R-Us.  The line was long, and it was cold and I had about 40 minutes until they opened.  I met up with another friend here.  She forgot to wake up to meet me at Khols.  I called her when I left Khols and woke her up. LOL

Went into TRU at 5:00 AM and went crazy. LOL  I got a lot of stuff for the kids.  They are all shopped for, with the exception of Jimmy, who I need to buy a few things for.  I honestly can’t remember everything I bought – is that bad?  Grow to Pro basketball hoop for Billy and Cabbage Patch Lil Sprouts for Anna.  Baby Alive for Anna.  Oh, why can’t I remember it all?  I’m so bad.  I’ll be surprised when I’m wrapping gifts, I’m sure.  Oh, I got Anna the Race to Mall Polly Pocket playset.  She’s been asking for that. LOL

So, I get in line at TRU at 5:33 and don’t get out of the store until 6:15 AM.  At that point, I head over to Target, which has been open for 15 minutes already.

 I was quick in there too.  I got everything I needed and sat there at about 6:50 thinking, hmmm, I have time to shop for myself. LOL  So, my friend and I went to look at clothes.  We got our clothes and then my friends sister found the shortest line.  I couldnt’ believe they had a line for each register and the way it’s set up, a lot of the lines went into the clothes sections and couldn’t be seen my many people.  People were waiting in HUGE lines for ONE lane!!!!  I can’t imagine how long it took them in line.  For us, maybe 20 minutes.  We were out of the store at 7:30 or so and we headed out to breakfast.  I was home before 9:00 AM and half asleep. LOL

How was your Black Friday shopping experience?

It’s Been a while!

I’m sorry I haven’t been on much.  I’ve been busy with work and with life.  This weekend I’m going away for a scrapbook retreat with church.  I’m so excited.  I’m finally going to put my Disney scrapbook together!   I’ve got the pictures printed out, now all I need to do is get things ready for the weekend.

 I’m still losing weight, but I’ve been bad.  I lost another pound or so in the last month.  Yeah, that’s it, one pound in the past month.  But hey, at least I didn’t gain, right?   I’m 5.4 lbs away from my goal weight.  My goal is to lose the 5.4 lbs before Christmas.  I can do it if I actually do the plan.  I only hit plateaus when I cheat. LOL

The kids are doing good.  Anna is getting so big.  It’s amazing how they grow so fast.  She is in her last year of pre-school and her understanding of letters and words as well as numbers is just growing so fast.  She’s actually starting to do simple additions and subtractions on her own, which amazes me.

Billy is starting to get ear infections again.  I think I may just have to demand to get tubes put in his ears.  I don’t understand how they can think that all these ear infections are normal . . . I actually think he has another one and will be taking him to the doctor again today.  Poor kid seems to always be at the doctor’s office.

Jimbo is getting too big too fast.  He is in to everything and never lets me have a dull moment. LOL  One odd thing I’ve noticed is that I do not think he has Bob’s cowlick like Anna and Billy have.  So I’ll have one kid without a cowlick. LOL  He’s such a smiley little guy and loves to have fun and to be in everything.

Bob and I are just chugging along at work.  Work is work and I am starting to dread the wake up every morning.  But, we have to make a living, right?

Oh, I’ve started Christmas shopping and it’s going good.  I’m trying to do more meaningful gifts for the kids, and not a lot of small toys that I’ll end up hurting my feet on as I walk across a room.  We’ll see how that goes.  Although, I find shopping for Jimmy to be very hard.  We still have all of Billy’s toys from when he was Jimmy’s age, so there isn’t much we need . . . Poor kid will grow up with all the hand me downs from clothes to toys . . . I’ll just have to buy new things I guess . . .

Gotta get going, I am actually working. LOL